20 years of pumpkin spice power

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It's been 20 years since Starbucks debuted the first pumpkin spice latte in 2003. Since then, it's become a cultural phenomenon greater than itself: it's shorthand for fall, for basicness, for femininity, and even for white culture. Why did the PSL become so powerful — and how do food trends garner so much meaning? Host Brittany Luse chats with Suzy Badaracco, food trend forecaster and founder of Culinary Tides, to discuss the $500 million dollar industry, and how little miss pumpkin spice has held on to her cultural power.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Whew, today I'm headed to meet Liam, our producer, to have my very first pumpkin spice latte.
0:12.0	I've never happened in my life.
0:15.2	You're listening to it's been a minute from NPR, I'm Brittany Loose.
0:19.2	And this particular day wasn't just a momentous occasion for me, but for the pumpkin spice
0:24.6	latte too.
0:26.2	The drink is celebrating its 20th birthday this year, and we weren't the only ones making
0:30.9	the pilgrimage on its drop day.
0:33.3	The DSL has plenty of diehard fans.
0:36.8	So how long have you been planning on coming to Starbucks to hit the pumpkin spice drop?
0:42.2	Um, we put this on our calendars like a week ago.
0:45.3	Okay, so I'm wondering, how did y'all know about this week ago because Liam and I just
0:48.7	found out yesterday?
0:50.3	It was on the DL on Instagram, like people were mentioning it in the comments.
0:55.6	That's incredibly popular.
0:57.4	And while Starbucks isn't the only pumpkin spice game in town, food trend forecaster and
1:02.6	founder of culinary tides, Susie Baderaco says Starbucks did bring it on the scene in 2003.
1:09.8	I don't know that they realized the phenomena they were about to create.
1:14.8	Since the launch, Starbucks has sold hundreds of millions of pumpkin spice lattes, and
1:20.0	it's still a strong money maker.
1:22.2	Last year's PSL drop kicked off the biggest sales week in the company's history.
1:27.4	I'll be honest, I felt conflicted about going into Starbucks to buy a PSL for this.
1:32.4	For one, I think almost all coffee tastes like burnt beans.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.